This year, February 14th is a big deal! Please allow me to share the significance of God’s perfect timing. Yes! It is Valentine’s Day, a day focused on loving those we care for. It also happens to be the beginning of our journey through Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and almsgiving as we desire to grow closer to the Lord. Lastly, but not coincidentally, February 14th is the official date of the closing of our new building in the heart of downtown Ocala. What does all of this mean? All I can think of is the over-pouring of God’s love and the impact of His love for our community. We will begin a full renovation with the plans to open our new expanded services to help connect the spirit, mind and body at Faithfully Guided Health Center this spring.

When I reflect on this significant day in February, I am reminded by God’s unconditional love and that above all things, He desires a loving relationship with us. This relationship with Him is fundamental to all things in life. 1 John 4:16 states, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” It is often difficult to really comprehend the love of God. We can only imagine and measure it according to our personal experiences and with people who love us. Unfortunately, this can also make it difficult to accept His love when we have been deeply hurt by those closest to us. However, our definition and experience of love is limiting and conditional and often shared intentionally when it is convenient, adds value, feels good, or is the right thing to do. It is a choice for us. But not for God. God’s infinite love for each of us is in the very experience of feeling or expressing love. If He is love, He doesn’t choose to love us, therefore, His love cannot be lost or taken away. Love is. God is. Whether we always acknowledge God in the details of our life, let us be reminded that, if we love, we are living in God.

My prayer is that we remind ourselves that God and His love is bigger than anything we can try to comprehend or imagine. When others fail us, His love still prevails. His provision and plan for our lives is constantly unfolding and becomes a reminder of His perfect love as He lays out the details of our lives. “The Lord directs the steps of the godly and He delights in every detail of their lives (Psalm 37:23). In His love, we become participators and servants in His will, despite our weaknesses and shortcomings. There are no coincidences in His love. God is love. May you feel God’s holy presence and loving embrace.